Richard Christie knocked out of the Telstra Drug Aware Pro

Richard Christie knocked out of the Telstra Drug Aware Pro by former world surfing champion Mick Fanning

New Zealand professional surfer Richard Christie, of Mahia, was unable to find the waves he needed in his man-on-man heat against Mick Fanning, of Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia, at the Telstra Drug Aware Pro held at Margaret River, WA this week.

Fanning, a two-time World Surfing Champion, was a formidable opponent for Christie who hopes to break into the ASP World Tour this year. Christie's 13th place in Margaret River's ASP Prime event on Friday puts him one step closer to that goal.

Christie's Telstra Drug Aware Pro campaign began with a tough draw in his Round of 96 heat when he came up against two-time world champion Mick Fanning, of Tweed Heads, Australia, Shaun Cansdell, of Mullaway, Australia, and Jethro Hedstrom, of Margaret River, WA.

Fanning scored a 9.0 ride on his first wave, putting Christie, Cansdell and Hedstrom under pressure in the challenging Margaret River conditions.

"The waves were messy, big, and onshore,” explains Christie.

"It was a battle to get a wave with an open face that had scoring potential.”

Fortunately, for Christie he managed to find a decent wave toward the end of the heat.

“I knew Mick had already scored a 9.0 point ride so I had nothing to lose and the wave I got looked like it had a good aerial section. I went up and did an air reverse followed by a couple of good turns and luckily it was enough to get me through that heat," he offers.

In the Round of 48 Christie came up against two big wave specialists: Cory Lopez, of Florida, USA, and Kieren Perrow, of the Gold Coast, Australia, in very testing three-metre surf.

“I knew Kieren and Cory were both going to go for the biggest turns on the biggest waves, and out the back I was taking massive 12-foot waves on the head," he laughs.

"Luckily, in between the big ones, I managed to get a couple of smaller right-handers that allowed me to do some turns. In surf conditions like that I was just stoked to get two waves that gave me that opportunity.”

Christie’s two scoring waves equalled Lopez’s two scoring waves at 11.17, but Christie had the highest single wave score and progressed to the Round of 24 where he would meet Fanning in a man-on-man heat.

Prior to Christie's Round of 24 heat with Fanning he watched one of his best friends, Billy Stairmand, of Raglan, New Zealand, do the unthinkable and beat 10-time world champion Kelly Slater, of Florida, USA. Stairmand's result is being labelled as the greatest achievement ever by a New Zealand surfer overseas.

"As I was paddling out for my heat I saw Billy take one of the better left-hand waves that had come through all day, do two massive turns and pull it off – I knew he had just beaten Kelly," he recalls.

"I didn’t let it add any extra pressure to my heat with Mick – I knew to stick to my game plan, get busy early in the heat and just find two good waves. Unfortunately, I went a little hard on my first wave and I fell off on the first turn – when you fall on your first wave in a heat it can put you on the back foot – especially against a two-time world champion”.

Christie scored a 5.67 on a right-hander towards the middle of the heat, which kept him in the mix to Fanning's 6.83s, but the Indian Ocean would not cooperate and he did not get an opportunity to get another high-scoring wave.

"The surf at Margaret River suits me – I like the waves having a bit of power. Margaret River is the type of place I expect to do well, and hopefully next year the waves will cooperate and I’ll be in the final," he says.

Christie said he was happy with his achievement, finishing 13th overall in an event that featured some of the world's top-10 surfers such as Joel Parkinson, of Coolangatta, Australia, Taj Burrow, of Margaret River, WA, Fanning, and of course the greatest surfer of all time: Slater.

Christie described the result as being a solid result to open his campaign with, but said he was hoping to win an ASP Prime event this year and be consistent enough to make the ASP World Tour.

Christie will travel to Scotland on Monday for the 6-star O'Neill Coldwater Classic Scotland at Thurso.

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